Out of Tune

Chapter Seventeen

I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music—Billy Joel

Lennon sat alone in the back room at Quincy's Pizza Emporium.

Her guitar was tuned and resting on a stand. She'd put on her makeup and brushed out her hair into soft red waves. Before arriving at the restaurant, Lennon had allowed Taylor to stuff her into a black V-neck cocktail dress and pumps. The shoes were surprisingly comfortable but Lennon had kicked them off the moment she'd sat down on the old futon in the green room.

They were slated to start their set at any moment. It was a packed house. Lennon could hear the chattering and sounds of forks scraping against plates.

It had been a crazy few weeks. Since Taylor had first told them that their social media was gaining traction, they had gained another hundred-and-twenty thousand hits. People were raving about their YouTube channel and Lennon had gotten cornered by three separate freshman boys asking her out on dates since the band's fame had begun to grow.

In normal circumstances, Lennon would have been ecstatic. Instead, she was nervous. This night symbolized the first time that she would be singing in front of a crowd as a member of Imagine Reality. It was the band's third gig as a weekly opening act at Quincy's. Though she and Spencer had agreed prior to their first weekly gig that they would be sharing the stage, it had taken them two weeks to rearrange all of their material.

They had taken that time to transform the band. She had been fortunate in that Miles, Zeke, and Charlie didn't object to her joining Spencer as a frontman. But it had taken both time and effort for them to analyze and change the band's new direction. They had immediately decided that some songs would be duets and others would continue to stay solo. In some cases, she and Zeke shared the backup harmonizing vocals.

As it were, for this appearance, Lennon wasn't taking on a solo song. Spencer had offered and the others had encouraged it, but they didn't have anything prepared that fit the restaurant's atmosphere the way the rest of their set did. There was no way that she would be performing 'The One Who Makes It' at Quincy's. The ballad was too raw, too emotional and slow for the family restaurant.

Besides, she wasn't quite ready to share that song with the world. Even Miles, Zeke, and Charlie had only heard a snippet of it. Lennon was still working on how the rest of the song needed to come together, but it was something she and Spencer were working on together.

It didn't matter to Lennon that she would not be singing a solo that night. Not when she had only just realized that it was the first time in her life that she would be singing in front of a crowd without her father watching her from the side of the stage.

Lennon was trying not to think about that mental image. Or about how she felt very lonesome despite the fact that there was a whole restaurant filled with people who were excited about her being there.

In the dining room, the boys' had gone to converge with their families. All of their parents had come, as had Miles' brother and Zeke's sisters. Taylor had managed to convince Quincy to shove a few tables together so that the families could all sit near each other.

Spencer had invited Lennon to spend some time with his parents because her mother and step-father...Well, they hadn't bothered to show up. Not that Lennon was surprised about their lack of presence but the sting was still there. So, instead of accepting his invitation and congregating out in the main dining room before the show, Lennon had stayed in the back room alone.